Kukla's Korner Hockey

Erat, 32, skated a season-low 6 minutes 20 seconds against New York in Wednesday’s loss but hasn’t played more than 11:50 in any single game this season.

It’s the most diminished role he’s ever held during his 12-year NHL career, and Erat — who has recorded 50-point seasons five times in his career, most recently in 2011-12 — has made it clear he’s not thrilled with the situation.“I have no idea what’s going on,” Erat said. “I’m just trying to stay positive and hope this is just a bump in the road and see how it goes.

“It’s not my position to be in this. I’m not 21 years old waiting for somebody to get hurt or somebody to play bad. It’s not in my system,” Erat said. “In my 12 years I’ve never played less than 10 minutes. It’s kind of new for me. I have to stay in shape in case something happens, but we’ll see what’s going to happen.“

Each time he’s been asked about Erat’s ice time, Coach Adam Oates cites the difficulty in finding playing time for all of Washington’s forwards. There’s been trouble in determining where Erat fits now that Brooks Laich, who was injured last year at the trade deadline, is healthy.